10 JUNE 5-11, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Call Elaine Lustig, PhD .......................................................... at 303-369-7770 Needing Your Emotional ....... Animal W/ You? For eligible people who need their emotional support animal to accompany them at/or away from home, I am available to provide the documentation and counseling. CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED a brushstroke in a Monet painting, a note in a Mozart symphony. “I never conceived of anything like it,” he says. “I’m here now, and I have no fear about what happens when I die. I don’t have anxiety about being dead. I have anxiety about the journey between here and there, because of what a lot of people experience when they have cancer.” In the dosed experience, Welch saw his prior day-to-day life in shades of gray. He says he’s often bothered by the selfi sh ways of so many humans on this earth, from people who throw cigarettes out of a car window to genocide. “I’m pretty sensitive about life,” says Welch, who calls himself “lucky” to have the life he does. “And so now I’m much more attuned to being gracious and being thankful,” Welch adds. “When I get up in the morning, I’m able to say, ‘Hey, today’s a journey. What cool thing is going to happen today?’” The study at CU Anschutz is ongoing, with results and analysis likely over a year and a half away. Stage-three and stage-four cancer patients are still able to apply to be part of the study for the next year or so, according to Dr. Stacy Fischer, one of the doctors overseeing the clinical trials. “One important point on the research we’re doing is that it’s not only the drug, but the drug in conjunction with psychotherapy, so it’s sort of structured and manualized with an evidence base, as well. People do experience very profound events, but when combined with psychotherapy, there may be really lasting benefi ts against anxiety, addiction, depression and other struggles,” Fischer told Westword in a 2023 interview. For at least one person, the result is clear. According to Welch, the CU psilocybin trial fueled a rebirth of his spiritual gratitude: “I believe we are all a divine, unique vibration of energy, and we can change that frequency using various tools. Like acupunc- ture, meditation, yoga, breath work, sound baths, prayer, faith, Ayurvedic medicine and psilocybin. I used the trial to further that fundamental change in my being.” Email the author at [email protected]. News continued from page 8 Stacy Fischer is one of the doctors overseeing the trials. CU ANSCHUTZ
